Water line replacement due to calcium build up

City workers will practice a quick replacement of a key water line at the water treatment plant – their goal is to replace it in five hours or less.

Carmen Bourlon

City workers will practice a quick replacement of a key water line at the water treatment plant – their goal is to replace it in five hours or less.

The water line in question is a 30-inch water line, crucial for transporting cleaned water to the water towers, Steve Nelms, interim utility director, said.

However, due to a calcium build up, only 10 inches of the line can be used. Nelms said. The line hasn’t been cleaned since its 1980 installation, leading to today’s 20-inch calcium build-up.

“It was kind of an unforeseen problem,” Nelms said. “It was never addressed.”

The replacement was required because the city brought in a company to clean the line, and after two days of trying, the company was unsuccessful in clearing the calcium because it was too thick, Nelms said.

Nelms said he hopes the project will be finished by Monday, Jan. 14, but the timing must be just right because without this water line, the towers couldn’t be refilled.

If things are not perfect, Nelms said he will not do the project because it must be finished in five hours.

“It’s definitely going to be done this month,” he said.

With the time-span of the project, Nelms does not expect it to affect anyone in town. People will not go without water, he said.

“Everything should be working normally,” he said. “We expect everything to go smoothly.”

Nelms encouraged people not to worry, because this is the best time of year to replace a water line, due to the lower water usage in winter months.

“The town probably won’t notice a change in water pressure,” Nelms added.

The replacement is expected to help increase water pressure from the water treatment plant to the water tower.